Condition in Venezuela worsens as zoo animals begin to feed on each other

The situation in economically depressed Venezuela is so dire, workers at one zoo are slaughtering animals to feed others — with two emaciated pumas poster kids of sorts for the distressing state of affairs. The zoo — located in the town of San Francisco in Zulia state — closed down this month after horrific pictures surfaced showing starving animals. The list of malnourished creatures includes a lion, a

Bengal tiger, a jaguar and several birds of prey, zoo staffers told AFP recently. Ducks, pigs and goats have been sacrificed to feed other animals. The bone-thin pumas were saved from poachers, and photos of them published in the newspaper Panorama have shocked people across this oil-rich country — saddled by hyperinflation and acute food and medicine shortages as a result of lower petroleum prices. READ MORE